Pokki is a Windows 8 Start Menu and Windows Store Replacement

There are several things not to like about Windows 8 (yes the lack of a Start button – that argument has been beaten to death) but another complaint is the current state of its Windows App Store. The Pokki Menu app is a Start menu replacement on steroids for Windows 8. This is probably the most unique and useful Start menu replacement you’ve ever seen and never heard of. In fact, Pokki announced on its blog that it’s had 20 million downloads.

Pokki Start Menu and App Store Replacement

It includes a Start Button, Start Menu with access to what you’d expect, and also a complete app store. The store gives you access to hundreds of free apps and games that will run on your desktop. Installation is a piece of cake following the wizard.

No restart is required, and after it’s installed you’ll see the Pokki style icon where the Start menu would normally be. When you first launch it, you can favorite the apps you use most for easy access.

Once you get going, you’ll find that the Pokki start menu works like you’d expect. You’ll have access to all of your favorite apps, libraries, favorite’s, control panel, and an easy search field.

One of the coolest features is finding apps from the app store. All of the apps are free and run on your desktop. You can easily search the store, or browse through featured and popular categories.

The store is laid out a lot more slick and efficiently than the Windows 8 app store, the way it exists now anyway.

The menu is laid out very efficiently with your favorite apps, easy to access programs, search, and the features you miss from Windows 7 – Shutdown, Restart, and other easy Start button features.

Here’s an example of launching Plants Vs. Zombies from the quick launch menu it creates.

Note: The Windows Store in the soon to be released Windows 8.1 update is much better than the current one, still you might want to stick with Pokki. It’s not just for Windows 8 either. You can install it on XP, Vista, and Windows 7 (no support for Windows RT of course, it’s a desktop application.) But the best part – it’s free!

We’ve covered other Windows 8 start menu replacements like Classic Shell and Start8 which are more traditional styles, but Pokki is a lot different in a good way. Give it a try and let us know what you think about it in the comments!

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About Brian Burgess

Based in MN, Brian Burgess is Editor in Chief at groovyPost. He also has contributed to other notable tech sites including InformationWeek and How-To Geek. Follow him on Twitter @mysticgeek.